BGA: Chicago's plastic-bag tax faked 'green' crusade to rake in green

The Better Government Association (BGA) recently suggested that the Chicago City Council’s new 7 cents-a-bag tax authorization is one more in a series of cloaked legislative efforts, wherein the stated purpose may obscure another motive.

BGA compared the new tax with previous attempts by the city to
increase capital. Citing inflated parking meter fees, red-light camera problems
and, most recently, Cook County president Tony Preckwinkle’s tax on sweetened
beverages, BGA President and CEO Andy Shaw suggested that this tax may end up
costing the government the public’s trust in exchange for the cash cushion.

“Pretending the bag tax is about anything other than revenue
just breeds cynicism in already suspicious Chicagoans,” Shaw said.

The levy was created under Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2017 budget.
Tagged informally as the “Irish plastic bag tax,” after a 2002 rule passed in
Ireland discouraging the use of unsustainable bags to curb litter, the
regulation struck BGA as potentially ineffective due to its relatively small cost
impact.

When Ireland imposed the fee, it succeeded largely because
of its relative heft. At the equivalent of 30 cents per bag, it was more than
enough to discourage use across the pond. However, Chicago’s current efforts — calibrated
at only 7 cents per bag — may not be enough of a deterrence here, BGA said.

“[It] raises
questions about whether shoppers at Chicago grocery and retail outlets will
view it more as an annoying trifle than a penalty to actively avoid,” BGA said.

Opponents said taxes that are tailored to individual
goods are inequitable because they affect low-income consumers most. Additionally, the tax revenue raised will benefit the city, not environmental causes.

“It is not about the environment,” Kim Wasserman,
executive director of the neighborhood nonprofit Little Village Environmental
Justice Organization, said.

City spokeswoman Molly Poppe of the Office of Budget and
Management said that the goal is “to change behavior” but the larger issue is
really transparency, BGA countered.

“So maybe it’s time for public officials to bag the ‘greater
good’ claim and play it straight,” Shaw said. “If government needs
revenue, say so. Don’t pretend it’s about health, safety or environmental
protection.”

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